All Stories by Skyler Ware
- Planetary Science
Ancient Mars wasn’t just wet. It was cold and wet
Mars may once have held enough water to fill oceans and form coastlines. The planet’s red dust contains water and likely formed in cold conditions.
- Chemistry
A new microbead proves effective as a plastic-free skin scrubber
The nonplastic polymer cleaned up eyeliner and permanent marker and broke down into molecules related to sugar and amino acids.
- Materials Science
Starchy nanofibers shatter the record for world’s thinnest pasta
The fibers, made from white flour and formic acid, average just 372 nanometers in diameter and might find use in biodegradable bandages.
- Health & Medicine
Limiting sugar in infancy reduces the risk of diabetes and hypertension
Children who experienced sugar rationing during World War II were less likely to develop some chronic illnesses as adults than those with no rationing.
- Earth
Reactive dust from Great Salt Lake may have health consequences
When inhaled, metals left by the shrinking lake could cause inflammation. Experts say more studies are needed to understand the impact.
- Physics
The world’s fastest microscope makes its debut
Using a laser and an electron beam, the microscope can snap images of moving electrons every 625 quintillionths of a second.
- Chemistry
Old books can have unsafe levels of chromium, but readers’ risk is low
An analysis of a university collection found that the vibrant pigments coating some Victorian-era tomes exceed exposure limits for the heavy metal.
- Chemistry
Tycho Brahe dabbled in alchemy. Broken glassware is revealing his recipes
The shards contain nine metals that the famous astronomer may have used, including one not formally identified until 180 years after his death.
- Math
This intricate maze connects the dots on quasicrystal surfaces
The winding loop touches every point without crossing itself and could help make a unique class of atomic structures more efficient catalysts, scientists say.
- Animals
Tiny saunas help frogs fight off chytrid fungus
Balmy shelters could bolster resistance to the deadly fungus in amphibian populations, but experts caution they won’t work for all susceptible species.
- Materials Science
Scientists developed a sheet of gold that’s just one atom thick
Ultrathin goldene sheets could reduce the amount of gold needed for electronics and certain chemical reactions.
- Humans
These are the chemicals that give teens pungent body odor
Steroids and high levels of carboxylic acids in teenagers’ body odor give off a mix of pleasant and acrid scents.
Mars’ iconic red color comes from ferrihydrite, a form of iron oxide that contains water, according to a new study. The mineral suggests a cold, wet period in Mars’ history some 3 billion years ago.
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Newly-developed microbeads that break down in water could replace plastic ones used as exfoliants in skin cleansers.
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Ultrathin nanofibers (seen here in an image from a scanning electron microscope) made from flour and formic acid measure just about 370 nanometers thick — the thinnest noodles on record.
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Too much sugar at an early age can set a child up for chronic health issues later in life, a new study looking at sugar rationing during World War II found.
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As the Great Salt Lake shrinks, it leaves behind dust with a higher oxidative potential, a measure of reactivity, than dust from other nearby lakes.
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A new type of microscope used a laser and an electron beam to snap images of electrons moving within a sheet of graphene (illustrated) at a record pace of one every 625 attoseconds.
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The yellow pigment coating this book contains lead and chromium compounds.
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Sixteenth century Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe is perhaps best known for making the first observations of supernovas. But he also dabbled in alchemy, formulating secret recipes for elixirs.
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This maze of spirals and spikes is a path that touches every vertex in an Ammann-Beenker tiling without crossing itself. The tiles are omitted for clarity.
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Green and gold bell frogs warm up inside a brick shelter. These tiny saunas could help the frogs fight off chytrid fungal infections, new research suggests.
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Each gold atom in goldene (illustrated) is bonded to six other gold atoms in a layer just one atom thick.
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Researchers found two smelly steroids and a mix of pleasant and acrid carboxylic acids in samples of teenage body odor.
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